This review examines the extant Australian literature on process quality in ECEC, which is understood as children’s actual experience within a childcare setting such as interactions between educators and children. A thematic analysis of empirical evidence from the 21 qualified articles reveals key characteristics of ECEC process quality studies, the benefits of process quality to child outcomes, and some factors influencing process quality. The review highlights the increasing interest in ECEC process quality in Australia and that process quality can be linked to children’s outcomes in the early years. It also underscores that outdoor environments and educators’ attributes such as personal experiences and qualifications stood out as the key supporting factors of process quality. More importantly, the review found that most of the process quality studies in Australia were conducted in metropolitan areas, and there were only two studies focused on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The paper calls for more actions to combine process quality with equity across types of ECEC services.

本综述考察了澳大利亚关于幼儿保育过程质量的现有文献，该过程质量被理解为儿童在托儿环境中的实际经历，例如教育者与儿童之间的互动。对 21 篇合格文章的实证证据进行主题分析，揭示了 ECEC 过程质量研究的关键特征、过程质量对儿童结局的益处以及影响过程质量的一些因素。该审查强调了澳大利亚对 ECEC 流程质量日益浓厚的兴趣，并且流程质量可以与儿童早期的成绩联系起来。它还强调，户外环境和教育工作者的属性（例如个人经验和资格）是过程质量的关键支持因素。更重要的是，审查发现，澳大利亚的大部分过程质量研究都是在大都市地区进行的，只有两项研究针对弱势背景的儿童。该文件呼吁采取更多行动，将流程质量与各类 ECEC 服务的公平性结合起来。